A message from our President:

What's in a Name?

Paul Schlatter, 2019 NWA President

In this month’s newsletter we are talking hurricanes. About the time this newsletter hits your inbox, Hurricane Dorian will probably be threatening the U.S. coastline or perhaps has already made landfall. It’s a testament to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) guidance that I can write this message about a week in advance and know it has gotten good enough to forecasthurricane tracksreasonably welleven a week out.

I’ve always found it fascinating how tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific Basins get their names. The process dates back to before the weather satellite era in the early 1950s. Back then, communicators in the media and the Weather Bureau found that short, easily remembered names for tropical cyclones were an effective way to communicate and identify a storm. They had no idea that more than 50 years later Twitter and other forms of social media would betailor-made to communicate critical information using short, easy to use names for tropical cyclones. Naming stormsbecame official in 1953 when the United States used female names. In 1979, an update was made to include male names alternating with female names. Name lists are used on a six-year rotation, so if a particular storm that shares yourname doesn’t live up to your standards, not to worry,it will be reused six years later.

NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) wants you to be prepared for hazardous weather year-round. The aim of the National Seasonal Safety Campaign is to build a Weather-Ready Nation, one that is prepared for extreme weather, water, and climate events. LEARN MORE

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For more information on exhibits, special accommodations, registration and the overall meeting program, keep checking the 2019 Annual Meeting Page and its links, or contact the NWA office at 405-701-5167 or nwahelp@nwas.org. NWA will provide updates on this Web page, on the NWA Facebook Page, Twitter and other social media. Please use the hashtag #NWAS19 for any tweets associated with the 2019 Annual Meeting.

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